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Response by the Cabinet Member: Firstly, can I thank you for asking an important question at this time. We have just completed the final element of the Car Park Review after Cabinet and CEO decided that the options put forward as a result of the member engagement with the consultants AtkinsRéalis could not be recommended. Your questions are repeated for ease of reference. 1. How much this whole exercise has cost so far since it started at the end of 2023 when the original issue was a simple request for the reintroduction of the one-hour tariff In 2023 the Council questioned the decision to raise the fees on our car park estate. As a result, it was agreed by me as the portfolio holder to request a full car park review to address the estate as an asset, look at the potential improvement to the estate, look at enforcement, address the need for both short stay and long stay car parking and finally to address free on-street parking as part of the offer. The Car Park Review therefore had a much wider scope than just tariffs. The cost of AtkinsRealis to facilitate and undertake the car park review and full engagement with a cross-party group of Members was £49,796.31. This was undertaken as there was strong public opinion about tariffs across the county so local representation to deliver recommendations from the review was a crucial element of the work. The facilitators for the final element of the review requested by Cabinet and the CEO delivered by Aberystwyth University cost £2,500. This included several meetings with Members and officers and a specifically designed in person workshop. 2. Why has this additional small working group of councillors been convened in I must admit a sense of secrecy as it wasn’t an open offer to all councillors and what criteria was applied in selecting the councillors. What has been discussed and agreed so far – are minutes available? A Cabinet, Corporate Leadership and Member workshop was held on the 25th February 2025 as outlined above. This workshop, professionally facilitated and delivered by Prof Charles Musselwhite and Dr Jennifer Wolowic of Aberystwyth University was convened to find a consensus on how we move the car park review forward in an appropriate and acceptable way. It was well attended by Cabinet Members, Leaders of the Opposition and Members involved in the process from the south, mid and north of the county and the Corporate Leadership Team. Everyone attending the event will be given a full account of the workshop and asked to evaluate the process. There was general consensus at the end of the session for a way forward which will be modelled into a cabinet paper as soon as possible. The outcome will provide information for the Cabinet paper which will have the normal transparency and public scrutiny that all Cabinet papers as subject to. 3. Why have the recommendations of the original working group been ignored. Why won’t she just implement the recommendations of the working group. By agreeing to a working group review, it set expectations which have been ignored as she tries to find another way. I think you are referring to me as the portfolio holder when you say ‘she’. The recommendations of the Car Park Review working group have not been ignored, and these are decisions that we as the cabinet will not be taking lightly as it comes with considerable cost. As such we felt it was important to get the views beyond the Cabinet in an effort to ensure the most appropriate decision can be made. 4. Most importantly what is the current status of this review , can she provide a comprehensive progress report, and what deadline is in place to resolve this matter. Again, I assume you mean the portfolio holder when you say ‘she’. The workshop referred to above has proved very useful, and the Cabinet will consider the outcomes from this alongside those from scrutiny and the car park review consultation document and working groups. We will look to take forward a Cabinet decision as soon as we can.
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